Tripura to hold local bodies poll in July

The much expected and politically significant election to the three-tier gram panchayats in Tripura would be held July 15, an official said here Thursday.

"For the first time in Tripura, 50 percent seats in gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads would be reserved for the women," state election commissioner Y. Kumar said after announcing the schedule of the poll.

The polling would be held in 6,111 seats in 591 gram panchayats, 419 seats in 35 panchayat samitis and 116 seats in 8 zilla parishads.

Around 1,108,190 electors, 48.45 percent of whom are female, are eligible to exercise their franchise through ballot boxes, instead of electronic voting machine (EVM). The law restricted to use EVM in the rural bodies' polls.

Kumar said the state election commission has sought 40 companies of central paramilitary forces from the union home ministry to conduct the poll peacefully and smoothly. Over 12,000 security personnel available would also be deployed.

"The NOTA (None Of The Above) provision would not be available in the gram panchayat election," the official added.

In the last election to the local bodies, the rulling Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front had secured absolute majority in the 414 gram panchayats and in all the panchayat samitis and zilla parishads.

The state election commission Wednesday held an all party meeting here. The opposition political parties, including the Congress, have demanded to conduct the poll with the deployment of central paramilitary forces.